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Zaulta's Sketchbook

Short intro . When I started this sketchbook was 15 years old, a high school student, and I'm focusing on human anatomy at the moment. I currently want to go to school for illustration and want to have it as a career.

September 17th 2018:

January 29th 2018:

December 19th 2017:

Last edited by Zaulta; October 22nd, 2018 at 10:54 PM.
Reason: Picture update and my friends were making fun of me for the intro: ^)

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Siena
May 7th 2017
This was one month before I started getting serious, but I think it should still be included here. When I finished I was really disappointed and disgusted with myself, I thought I was better than this. I guess that's what happens when your peers boost your ego too much. : ^)

Materials: Acrylic on graphite (sketch)

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Istebrak's 14 Day challenge
June 27th 2017 to August 10th 2017
Before drawing these, I was all over the place and was focusing on everything, which means nothing, but after drawing these I became specialized in portraiture and graphite.

Materials used: Graphite and my fingers for blending
Day 1: Day 2:
Day 3: Day 4:
Day 5: Day 6:
Day 7: Day 8:
Day 9: Day 10:
Day 11: Day 12:
Day 13: Day 14!:

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Roronoa Zoro Fanart
September 16th
This wasn't long ago, but I remember being really proud of this one, even though there is no sign of contrast.

Good start to your sketchbook! You're still very young so have a lot of time to improve. If you continue to take it seriously you could already be at a very high level before you're even done with high school. Because you have so much time I would advice you to not "specialize" in anything just yet. Unless you just want to draw as a hobby? But because you said you're taking it seriously sounds like you would want to make a living doing this. Try to study skulls and the muscles of the face if you want to see really rapid improvement in your portraits. It's all about knowing the structure underneath what we're drawing to get it across correctly. Good luck with your sketchbook and all your work, hard work is all it takes!

Sketched these today using the Loomis Method, sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn't, so that means I'm doing something wrong. If anyone knows please tell me :>

On a thread asking for a critique (link on 3 post above), someone said something about the planes of the face, so I decided to practice them. Made me realize a few things, that I don't know about the planes as I hoped I did and that I need to practice this more.

I did the right one first with no reference and the left one after with a reference.

I sketched this using the Loomis method last night and it took about 7 minutes. I'm going to paint this using watercolor tonight, which will be my first time using color with knowledge beforehand. Will be the posting the painting tomorrow, hope it turns out well. : ^)

December 20th 2017
Lol kill me. I gave up half way through the face and I just wanted to be done with this. I'm not blaming my brushes or my watercolors, but they do suck. The watercolor is from the brand Prang 16 color set, I got it when I first started. The brushes I got from my birthday it's from the brand, Crafter's Choice. The brushes were very low quality, it had all these sting pulling out, which also kept getting in my paints and wouldn't stay in one position and for the watercolors, I didn't take care of them so the colors were all mixed together. For the sketchbook, Canson Mixed Media, it might've just been me adding on too much water, making it very wrinkled and the pages underneath slightly wrinkled, but maybe not. Tomorrow I'm gonna attempt to get all new, higher quality supplies for watercolor.

For my next watercolor painting I'm going to focus on getting my techniques correct first with grey scale. I think I knew what I did wrong I was too impatient, had a lack of skill, and a lack of determination. I'm also going to try to do watercolor at least 2 times a week starting next week.

(sketch one post above)

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June 3rd and 11th 2017
These were my other attempts at watercolor, looks disgusting, but hey, I would choose the painting above any day. (some of you may recognize these)
Picture characters: Riven from League of Legends and Sora from the Kingdom Hearts franchise

December 21st 2017
Today I kind of took a break, but watched a another video by Proko who explained the Loomis method better than the other one I watch. I also took notes on the basics of watercolor by Laovaan, should've watched and took notes with it yesterday when I was painting. My last notes had a lot of errors in it lmao

Couldn't get new supplies today, but when I get new supplies, I'm going to start by painting facial planes with watercolor to knock down 2 birds with 1 stone.

December 22nd 2017
Today I did the facial planes with watercolor like I said and I'm pretty proud. :> You can tell which one I did first, I was still impatient and sloppy, with the second one I was more patient, but still sloppy, and with the third one is where I learned the most. To reduce the drying time you use less water by dabbing the brush on a paper towel. I'm a genius 8]. After the watercolors, I decided to spend a bit more time practicing the Loomis method and it looks better than the last ones I tried. What I'm going to work on next is blending the colors to make them smooth by painting shaded circles and try to conserve paint, but first I'm going to do a few more facial plane paintings.

The picture on the bottom is an attempted self portrait which I drew from the mirror and it looks nothing like me. I'll attempt another one, but in front view tomorrow. I also did a self portrait in art class in October, drew from a picture. It's hung up at the school right now, but I'll edit it on with the mirror self portrait when I get it back.

I got new supplies today, but I'll only be using them when I'm doing a full painting, because the watercolor sketchbook I got is only 30 pages , the watercolors I got is fairly small, and with an exception to the brush. So I'll be using the old watercolors, but only the black and white colors.

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December 23rd 2017
Today I practiced facial planes and basic shapes with watercolor. The watercolor took so damn long to dry for the circles, I think the wrinkles are to blame since they make pools of water. For the first two circles, I was just experimenting if I would somehow make blending work with wet on dry, but that didn't work out well, so I did wet on wet for the rest of them. The watercolor was pretty hard to control because of the wrinkles, but the circles, in my opinion, got better as I went. For the most part with the face, I think I did ok, but I still got a few things wrong, so I'll be working on the lighting of it if I have time the next two days and the self portrait will be on hold until I have a good grasp on watercolor.

Quick question: Does anyone know how to avoid the dark lines on the edges when using wet on wet? If so, please do tell me. :>

December 25th 2017
Sorry I couldn't post yesterday, I had to attend a party which lasted until very late at night. Today I was pretty exhausted so I just wanted to do something little. I remember someone saying on my last critique post that the eyes on the drawing of my friend's character looked weird, so I did some practices on eyes. Tomorrow I'll try to make up for the day I missed by doing a lot and I notice that I have a lot of trouble doing views from above and below.

December 26th 2017
Did some photo studies of two eyes today of the same photo I did back in September. I would say my use of contrast and attention to detail has improved a bit. I guess I should be proud, but I still see a few things I should learn how to do, like learning how to shade the iris correctly.

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December 27th 2017
Didn't do a lot today, but I tested out the watercolor. It still wrinkles a little bit, but not as much as the mixed media, but I watched a video review of the watercolor paper I got and it didn't wrinkle for them. I tried using less water in general, so I guess I need to still work on it. I would say my watercolor circles got better, but there are those hard edged lines on the circle, but more prominent on the cylinder, guess I should watch more tutorials.

I did the the eye yesterday, but gave up on it, since I thought it was 'too advanced' for me.

December 28th 2017
So I have to do this sketchbook assignment, that my art teacher assigned. The topic I chose out of two is, 'define a memory in your life: what made you who you are today'. I decided to sketch my parents when they were all dressed up from a photo from like 17 years ago. I'm kinda bending the rules, but I think it will be acceptable. This will probably take me all of the days until winter break ends, which is Tuesday, so I'll just be uploading progress pictures.

I tried doing the facial features, but I couldn't get it right for a while, so I measured it out and decided I will fix some thing I see off, do the facial features, and hopefully shade both of the faces tomorrow.

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December 29th 2017
The faces took a lot of measuring and comparing each other, but I still started shading both of the faces. I still see some things off, like I accidentally made the eyes too big when shading, but I'll get to it tomorrow and after I'm done with the faces I'll start the clothes then the hair.

@Black Spot
I sketched one of my friends once when I had a whole block to sketch. Yeah, I'll draw some real life objects sometime, so thanks for the advice.

December 30th 2017
Before I start shading the hair, I need to fix the faces. For example my dad's nose looks like the left part was sliced off and I'll add darker and with charcoals I'll add lighter and darker values after I'm generally done.

December 31st 2017
Looks like I need to work on double checking my line sketches : ^). When I was almost done with my mom's face I realized that the left eye was too big and that the bangs were too short, which was also why the drawing failed 'the mirror test'. It was pretty easy to fix the mistake, which is why I love graphite and charcoal. Tomorrow I'm going to finish my mom's face, dad's face, and dad's clothes, then I'll call it done.

Wow this looks horrible compared to the picture, looks like I have to thin my mom's face and thicken my dad's REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

January 1st 2017
I finished my photo study today, then sprayed it with a fixative. I overlooked that the teeth's shading was too broad, but since I sprayed it I can't erase it : ^). School is starting back up tomorrow, so my drawing time is going to have to be cut. I think studying skulls and muscles will be quicker than doing watercolor 100% of the time, so for maybe one or two weeks like dedicate all my drawing time on the skull and facial muscles. After that, I may start practicing the human body.

Edit: I was working on this when I was forced to go a new year's party (December 31st, first photo) and people saw my shit drawings and I might get commissioned to do photo studies on canvasses. I don't know if I should do it or not, because I would rather spend my time learning new things and studying.

Very, very good stuff for a 15 year old. Like the other guy said, if you dedicate yourself to this you will see leaps and bounds within a few short years. I know 'years' sounds like a long time, but it will go by before you know it. It's never too early or late to learn drawing, but those who dedicate themselves young (I say this at 25) have a priceless advantage.

You're right that you're struggling with the Loomis method for heads. You're doing okay when the head is not tilted up or down, but when it is you're having trouble. Work on the triangular wedge form of the jaw, that is where the issue lies. People frequently struggle with it because it curves at the sides. In the beginning it may even help you to draw it as a regular wedge, with super sharp angles. Getting the large forms of the head down (sphere for the cranium, wedge for the jaw) is more important than adding facial features.

I assume you watch some drawing tutorials on Youtube. I always recommend Proko, regardless of skill level: https://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV He is a very good teacher and starts at square one for drawing people (mastering basic 3D forms).

Keep at it, stay humble in the process despite what anyone tells you, and you'll improve in no time.

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January 2nd 2018
I'm starting to go through Proko's Anatomy of the Human Body playlist, so depending on how long this playlist takes to complete, I'll be putting watercolor and perspective of the human head on hold until I have a good grasp on the human body. Here are the assignments from video number two. I followed what Proko was doing on the top tracing on the first photo and for the rest I didn't use a reference. I don't have a drawing tablet and the thinnest paper I have is too thick for me to trace so I had to trace on the printed paper. I don't want to waste too much paper so I did part of the assignment, but I would like some feedback back before I do the other two :>.

@Hitchins
Thank you, means a lot to me and thanks again for recommending Proko to me, just what I needed.

January 3rd 2018
Today was a pretty long day for me, luckily Proko's videos had simple notes and assignments. I didn't do much practice for the joints, but before I start the next video I'll be practicing that a bit more.

Also did the tracings I didn't do yesterday, today. They're pretty horrible since I know close to nothing, but I think it's suppose to be a benchmark thing : ^).

January 5th 2017
Yesterday I did practice wrong, so I did a little practice and it was surprisingly pretty easy. I also watched, did notes, and did a little part of the assignment for the spine. I'm going to each picture twice, because perspective is one of my major weak point : ^). Tomorrow I'll be doing level 1, the day after level 2, and after that level 3.

January 9th 2018
I think I'm getting the hang of this and may spend two more days on this practice. This weekend I wanna try out this mono zero eraser, so I'm going to use it on a friend's birthday present. :>

Other than practicing Loomis or any other artists advice on how to better draw head, I would suggest just trying to get your own understanding of the basic proportions. I do think those artists you mentioned are great, but there is nothing better than just putting that time into understanding things for yourself. We are always tempted to stick too much to the method someone created, but it is meant just as a tool to help us learn on our own.

Oh, and about watercolor. How thick is the paper you use? On your first paintings it seems the paper is not the best quality, maybe that is the problem. I always try to use paper that's at least above 200 gsm (grams per square meter)(300gsm is my standard :3). Thicker paper can take in more water and it dries a bit slower, so You have more freedom on paper. Anyways, when working with watercolor you need to be careful, patient and plan things ahead. I think You have all the tools needed to achieve what you are aiming for!

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January 10th 2018
Almost done with the spine practices, I think I'm ok at drawing the spine now, but I have to redo it only once :>.

@destroyerfox
Thanks for the advice and I guess my routine paid off.

For the paper my first watercolor painting I used Canson mixed media, so it wasn't specialized in watercolor, but I used Canson watercolor paper when I was practicing shapes with green. The watercolor is about twice as thick as the mixed media, but it still wrinkles a bit and the gsm for the paper is 300. Only using pencil messed me up in the long run, never taught me about patience and planning : ^).